Amazon Fire TV's New 'Experience' Rollout Slogs On
The longest OS update rollout in the history of OS update rollouts hits second-gen, Alexa-enabled Fire TV Sticks ... more than nine months after it was first announced
Are you "experienced"?
If not, it could take a while to get that way.
Amazon said Thursday that its new (well, sorta new) Fire TV "Experience" upgrade is "rolling out" to second-generation Fire TV Sticks with Alexa-enabled voice remotes. This announcement comes one day after Amazon said that the OS upgrade is also being deployed to Fire TV-powered smart TVs and soundbars.
It was all the way back in September when Amazon announced big upcoming changes to Fire TV, with the "latest Fire TV experience" being the operating system's biggest update yet. User profiles were added, as was a simplified main menu bar. Users now have the ability to "pin" their favorite apps for quicker access to them.
Other new features include app peeks, which let users explore content within the UI without actually launching the app; and "Find," which allows users to discover content by categories like "free," "TV shows" and "movies."
In March, Amazon announced that the upgrade was "now available" on "Fire TV Stick (2nd and 3rd Gen), Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Cube (1st and 2nd Gen), Fire TV (3rd Gen, Pendant Design), and Fire TVs."
"To clarify, the blog was just updated to include the new devices and the list of devices on the blog is reflective of what’s been announced, sorry for the confusion!," an Amazon rep told us.
NEXT TV NEWSLETTER
The smarter way to stay on top of the streaming and OTT industry. Sign up below.
Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!